I haven't had much for adventures lately as far as work goes. I've been in the office for four weeks (I think), doing designery stuff. I've spent some time back in the shop doing this and that as ordered, and an afternoon cutting rye, but most of my time is spent at my desk working on various things in SolidWorks, a modeling/CAD program. This daily grind does indeed begin to grind. I've been here three and a half months and still spend a lot of time trying to not do something stupid. Whether it's legitimate fear or not, I still worry.
My big excitement lately though was my much-too-quick trip back to Bozeman last weekend for MSU graduation, in which my girlfriend Mackenzie walked. I flew in on Friday morning, met Mike and Jami Lee's new baby boy Foster, and met Kenzie's parents, brother, and grandparents. The ceremony was Saturday, and was glad to see some friends from the Flathead, along with more Bozeman friends than I expected. I was genuinely shocked to see Tanya Smith working in Bozeman; the last time I had seen her was as we parted ways in the Auckland, New Zealand airport after flying from San Francisco last winter. I was lucky enough to visit with my aunt and uncle, Chris and Jim, Saturday night for Jim's brother Tom's birthday dinner, after which we played a few tunes.
We met my parents and grandma for dinner on Sunday, then soaked at Norris via the Pony Bar. Throughout the weekend we got a couple good hikes in, and there was the small task of moving her out of her apartment to squeeze in there. I would have loved to have gone to the ranch, but it would have only been for a couple hours. It was a frantic, hectic weekend, but it was a great change from my day-to-day routine. I truly miss the mountains and everyone I know in Montana. I wish I knew when I will be back next. Probably one of the hardest parts about moving to somewhere new is not getting the pleasure of walking around town and running into people you know. I just don't know many people here, and am not very good at approaching strangers to strike up conversation, if that surprises anyone.
And about Kenzie, let's just say I tend to get the ball rolling on such things at the least convenient times, but we'll see what happens.
